The Last Full Measure: Vietnam War Drama Uplifts a Real-Life Hero, Applauds America

By Kim Hughes

Rating: B

Set at the dawn of the 21th century with lengthy flashbacks to the Vietnam War —specifically, to a gruesome battle that unfolded on April 11, 1966 — the fact-based drama The Last Full Measure appears to be equally devoted to telling the story of a wrong ultimately righted, and to inducing patriotic chest-thumping in its Stateside viewers, particularly during one very climatic later scene.

Both are noble pursuits, I guess, though the execution of the latter dilutes the power of the former, which really doesn’t need nationalistic umph to be thrilling and remarkable. Besides, hero stories are borderless anyway… or should be.

With that nitpick out of the way, and with full praise for an excellent and superbly leveraged cast including Sebastian Stan, Christopher Plummer, William Hurt, Ed Harris, Samuel L. Jackson, Jeremy Irvine, Peter Fonda and Diane Ladd, The Last Full Measure stands as a fascinating document of how truly messed up every aspect of the Vietnam War was. It’s also a touching if occasionally syrupy rumination on the nature and provenance of valor.

When U.S. Air Force Pararescueman William H. Pitsenbarger (or Pitts as he’s dubbed) hauls the wounded medic serving the U.S. Army’s 1st Infantry Division into his rescue chopper, he immediately decides to take his place and drop down into the perilous action.

Never mind that Pitts has never marched with the soldiers of the 1st Infantry Division or that the fight is especially brutal; in goes Pitts, ultimately saving some 60 soldiers before being killed. Soon after, survivors of the attack lobby for the prestigious Medal of Honor. No dice, despite Pitts having demonstrated “conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty.” There things sit for decades.

It’s 1999. Enter fast-rising Pentagon staffer Scott Huffman (Stan) who, through a series of relatively mundane circumstances, finds himself opposite Hurt’s Tully in his office. Tully and a committed group of ragtag others seek justice for Pitts and the clock is ticking: Pitts’ father (Plummer, with Ladd as his mother) has terminal cancer. Both Pitsenbargers are the kind of selfless beings for whom such an honor would help ease the pain of losing a son. Huffman initially sees the Pitts case an inconvenient obstacle to clear, but we know it’s only a matter of time before he’s sucked in heart and soul.

Two narrative paths then emerge: the first finds the aloof Huffman tracking down vets, still addled and battle-scarred, to help him mount a case for finally getting the Medal of Honor designation. As might be expected, these grizzled ex-soldiers have heard this tune before and are distrustful of a government flunky with no skin in the game.

The second arc finds Huffman powerfully swayed by what he learns about Pitts and galvanized by what seems to be a high-level conspiracy keeping the Medal of Honor from a most deserving soldier. He will risk his career (damnit!) to see this through, as his adoring pregnant wife and precocious young son look on.

Along the way, we hear about war — and the evil it inflicts upon men — through a series of lengthy, thousand-yard-stare-y expositional discourses offered by the vets played by Jackson, Harris and, most unnervingly, by an unhinged Fonda, in what was his last role.

Writer/director Todd Robinson ensures we civilians grasp the importance of the American Medal of Honor; it’s coveted by war heroes more deeply than almost anything and is almost never awarded to enlisted men like Pitts.

Indeed, the film’s title — and guiding spirit — borrow from no less a light than Abraham Lincoln and his famous Gettysburgh Address (“that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion”), itself a powerful and timeless reflection on the degradations of war.

As the closing credits play, actual vets from the 1966 battle speak about Pitsenbarger and what his sacrifice meant. It’s very moving stuff. The Last Full Measure is a class-A weepie even when it feels those tears are being manipulated.

The Last Full Measure. Written and directed by Todd Robinson. Starring Sebastian Stan, Christopher Plummer, William Hurt, Ed Harris, Samuel L. Jackson, Jeremy Irvine, Peter Fonda and Diane Ladd. Opens wide January 24.